


From the Jaws of Victory

by Spiletta42



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-30
Updated: 2009-11-30
Packaged: 2017-10-06 07:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spiletta42/pseuds/Spiletta42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor finds himself alone with his mistakes. An episode tag for The Waters of Mars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Jaws of Victory

Doctor Who

Rating: T™©

Warnings: None.

Categories: Ship, Het, Episode Tag

Pairings: Ten/Romana

Characters: The Doctor, Romana

Spoilers: _The Waters of Mars_ (November 15, 2009 Special)

A/N: Written on a whim.

Credits: Screencap courtesy of [time-and-space.co.uk](http://www.time-and-space.co.uk)

Disclaimer: Today we're stealing from BBC Wales.

# From the Jaws of Victory

"I fixed it." She sat down beside him, so close that if she'd been real, he could have felt her thigh brushing up against his.

The Doctor almost fancied that he could. If he looked at her, she'd no doubt fade away. Just his mind having a laugh before coming unhinged. No less than he deserved. _Time Lord victorious._ This was his guilt then. For years he could count all too well, the weight of those deaths -- all of their deaths, _her_ death -- had defined him, and in that moment when he'd gone too far, he'd made those deaths an abstraction. This was his reminder. There was no victory in any death, much less _hers._

Fix it. He needed to do that, before the unhinging. Human civilization could not pay the price for his renewed bout of survivor's guilt.

She laid a hand over his. It felt warm and soft and real. _Real._

So too late on the unhinging, then. Let the last of his sanity be swallowed in this moment. Maybe he could even imagine her smile, just for a bit. Selfishly, he turned to her.

No smile. She looked worried. And also oddly dressed. He'd have asked about that, if she were real. Her hand still felt warm over his, and the slight breeze stirred her hair.

"You're not . . . you're not real?"

She nodded and gave him the slightest hint of a smile.

He quelled the instinct to crush her in a hug. "But how?"

"Rose Tyler's dimensional cannon."

"What?" Suddenly he believed in this vision of Romana sitting beside him, even with that ridiculous tee shirt. His astonishment proved it to him.

"She's not here," Romana added. "That's quite a responsibility you dropped on her. I'm astounded that she still thinks well of you."

He scolded himself for wanting to ask about Rose before asking about the other. She was here about the other, he knew that much, because he knew her. "You fixed it?"

"Adelaide Brooke dies on Mars. Her granddaughter leads the deep space mission. The great and bountiful human empire is saved."

"Thank you," he said. "I mean, I know you didn't do it for me, but -- "

"I did do it for you," she said.

He nodded, grateful. "The cloister bell . . . "

"Led you here, to this desolute rock, and then stopped?" She smiled more fully. "Really, Doctor, you didn't think _moping_ would repair a tear in the fabric of space-time, did you?"

He hugged her then, fiercely, and laughed in relief. "I don't deserve you."

"Then you're in luck," Romana said. "Nobody ever gets what they truly deserve." She drew back, and her hand curled around his his jaw. "I rather like this regeneration. I hope it lasts a good long while."

"I hope so too." Hope. He could hope again. He leapt to his feet and dragged her into the TARDIS. "Where to, then? I seem to recall owing you a trip to the beach."

"No beaches." She slapped his hand away from the controls. "Too cold and gloomy. Perhaps you should just let me drive?"

And he did.

[](http://www.spiletta.com/jc.html)  


This transformative work constitutes a fair use of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. _Doctor Who™©_ and related properties are Registered Trademarks of BBC Wales. No copyright infringement intended. No profits made here. © Spiletta42, November 2009.


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